Welcome to the AC Tropical Fish aquarium forum. Our aquarium forum is the place to discuss any aquarium related issue in a friendly environment. Our aquarium forum welcomes aquarists of all levels from beginners to experts. Please ask a question in the how to section of our forum or read the FAQ section if you have any questions. register to and become a part of our friendly aquarium forum community today.

My time and money pit of a tank

0

Currently cycling my tank (which is seeming to take forever!!) with the 6 glowlight tetras in there. I think I have my final stock planned out for when it is finished. Got two of the tetras which look really fat (can't tell if their pregnant or if I'm feeding them too much trying to get the ammonia to start being produced). Tested my water and I'm just above 0.25 ppm in ammonia so hoping it will start producing nitrite soon (fingers crossed). BTW its a 46 gallon bowfront tank.

I believe this tank will take quite a bit of time to cycle - 6 glowlight tetras don't produce that much ammonia - that's my tank.

If you have the ability to return those fish and cycle with ammonia (because you can spike the ammonia reading to get bacteria to grow faster), I would recommend that - otherwise you are looking at more than just a few weeks I hate to say. If that doesn't matter to you then as stated above, keep that ammonia reading at .25 to protect your fish.

I haven't been because ammonia hasn't ever gone above 0.25 ppm and I've been told doing water changes will slow down cycling. I've also added live plants now as I'm preparing for the final stock I want in my tank.

I have been reading this thread, and i would just like to advise on a couple points.

As you are cycling with fish, even .25 ammo in your tank is unhealthy. Regardless of how hardy your fish is with an uncycled tank this could cause issues that are subtle or very noticable.

Also have you been checking your Nitrites and Nitrates as well. If you have a Nitrite spike, that is very life threatening to your fish. Nitrates can be harmful to your fish if they rise above a reading of 20. Keep an eye on both of these.

It seems like you have a lot of fish in your tank right now, this could also be causing the ammonia reading on top of possible overfeeding because the tank isn't used to the biolevel yet.

Plants will help keep the numbers down, just ensure you have the items to nourish them. If they start to go that will also start to add extra ammo to your tank.

You need ammonia to cycle a tank and water changes reduce the amount of ammonia, so yes, water changes will increase the time it takes to cycle a tank. However, when cycling with fish, you must do water changes to keep them alive, that's the price you pay (or your fish pay if you choose not to change water) for cycling with fish. It's good the ammonia levels haven't risen above .25ppm, but you still need to do at least one good sized water change a week, more if the ammonia level rises over .25ppm.

When I go fishing I just throw sharp rocks in the water and wait for the dead fish to float to the top... KingfisherEverything happens for a reason. Sometimes that reason is you are stupid and make bad decisions. I think my fish is adjusting well to the four gallon, He's laying on his side attempting to go to sleep on the bottom of the gravel.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Dear naps, sorry I hated you so much when I was a child... Love me